Former first lady Rosalynn Carter died at age 96 on Sunday after she had entered hospice care in her home in in Plains, Georgia, The Carter Center announced.
The mental health care advocate and wife to former President Jimmy Carter died “peacefully, with family by her side,” according to a press release from The Carter Center, the human rights group formed by the Carters.
“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” President Carter said. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
The couple had four children together: Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy. In a statement Sunday, Chip Carter described his mother has “a great humanitarian in her own right.”
“Her life of service and compassion was an example for all Americans. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today.”
In May of this year, the Carter family announced that Rosalynn Carter had been diagnosed with dementia. The diagnosis came three months after President Carter began hospice care at their home in Plains, Georgia, the Deseret News reported.
Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived first lady after Bess Truman, who died at age 97, according to The Associated Press.